Hiroshi - your sharpening of the owl is great, but could it have been done without also sharpening the background? Might you have been able to select just the owl's outline and done the sharpening within it? Best of both worlds!:-) Tom

The only way I know to do this with the my program is to cut the owl out, soften the background and reinsert the owl. Here is a quick (a good cutout takes more time) example:

Didn't even notice how this thread has moved on!
Thanks everybody for their comments.
Thanks Hiroshi for editing my photo. I really like second version better. I still have to lurk in to PS or other editing programs so this picture was unedited.
Unluckily I was unable to find him again this week so there is no new pictures of this guy.